Signal Woes (Abandoned)
by Culaco
Summary: Taiyang had thought he would only be dealing with one blonde terror at Signal academy, Qrow had just been expecting his fiery niece. Neither men were prepared for the day that Jaune Arc bravely stepped foot on Patch... and vomited. My (second) first attempt at a non-oneshot, with help this time! Combat School!Jaune enters the fight! Officially Abandoned.
1. Chapter 1

**Signal Woes**

 _Taiyang had thought he would only be dealing with one blonde terror at Signal academy, Qrow had just been expecting his fiery niece. Neither men were prepared for the day that Jaune Arc bravely stepped foot on Patch….and vomited._

* * *

 **So here we are. I did previously make an attempt at a story that would be more than one chapter, but due to my own inability to actually plan more than one paragraph ahead I ended up disliking how it went. So now I'm back and with help, a friend here to help me plan the story out and keep me on the path we've set forward. This is pretty much my first attempt at writing so please be patient as I develop my writing style and work on some of my issues. Hopefully spelling and grammar won't be an issue, but as a fair warning, I do tend to slip between British and american spellings of words. Working on that issue but sometimes things slip through the cracks.**

 **Chapter 1 - Boy meets school**

* * *

As the bay doors of the Airship finally opened, a head of blond hair made a dart for the sweet safety of solid ground and the accompanying trash can that awaited him, being given a wide berth by pretty much every other person that was getting off the same airship. Jaune sniffed. It wasn't his fault that he suffered from airsickness, a most debilitating disease that was far more common than people liked to talk about! They could at least stand to stop treating him as if he had something contagious that would kill them all if they even so much as risked sharing airspace with him! It was hard enough suffering the long journey to get to Patch just so he could attend Signal Academy, but for his dream he supposed that any price was more than worth paying. This was his starting line! This was the place that would see him taking his first steps into the shoes of the heroes of old he'd idolized and wanted to be since he could first form words! Here, he would start his journey to the path of a huntsman and nothing was ever going to manage to stop him, as soon as he could manage to extract himself from his lord and saviour, the almighty trash can. Screw dogs, trash cans were man's best friend in this sort of situation!

With a groan, Jaune managed to push himself away from the trash can, turning his blue eyes to the rest of the new students that had arrived with him, noting that they seemed to be paying attention to somebody that was approaching them. It was a struggle, but Jaune managed to pull himself together enough to stand with the rest of the newcomers, watching the person approach them.

The newcomer was a man with short, messy blond hair and blue eyes that Jaune likened to his own, though he did lack the stubble and soul patch that the newcomer had. One day though. The man was dressed in brown cargo shorts, with a brown belt and a brown vest, with a metal spaulder and leather vambrace on his right arm. He also only wore one fingerless glove, which was pretty odd if you asked Jaune. What was the point in only wearing one glove? He blinked as the man cleared his throat, instantly silencing the hushed muttering that had been rippling through the gathered teenagers.

"Hey there, welcome to Signal Academy. I know some of you have had a long time travelling, which has been harder on some of you than others." Jaune didn't bother hiding his wince at that. Somehow it felt targeted specifically. "But anyways, my name is Taiyang Xiao-Long and I'm a teacher at Signal Academy, the primary combat school here on Patch. Now, I know a lot of you just want to rest, but for now we'll be taking a quick tour of the academy once we meet up with the students native to Patch. Now, could you all follow me please?"

Jaune blinked, watching his fellow students start filing out after Taiyang, before shrugging and following along. It wasn't like he could choose not to and if it helped him manage to not get lost then he was all for it. It was better than getting lost on his first day or something and setting a bad example. He didn't want to be seen as some sort of troublemaker that wasn't taking his goals seriously enough. He planned to go to Beacon academy after all, so there was no way he could afford to get a bad reputation here, or he'd never be accepted in what was largely thought of as the most superior combat academy on all of Remnant. They were known for not taking many students on board and only the best of the best or the most promising individuals could ever manage to get into the prestigious academy. Not that there was anything bad about the other academies, but if he ever planned on being a hero like the ones in the stories and the ones his family were supposedly descended from, it was almost paramount that he graduated from the best schools he possibly could.

"Hey, watch it dreamer!" His thoughts were interrupted as he slammed into the back of somebody, though only he really seemed to come off any worse because of it, stumbling backwards from the impact. Great, he hadn't been looking where he was going. He looked up to apologize, only to stare at the retreating back of some guy he didn't even know, frowning as he bit his tongue in frustration. It was no use following the guy to apologize now. It was probably way better to wait, especially since they were approaching another group of teenagers their age, who were all stood waiting.

"Alright!" Taiyang's voice called out, washing over both sets of teenagers. "Now that everybody is here, we can get started with the tour! As you can probably see, this is the main entrance to Signal Academy, so you'll need your student ID with you to enter the building." And boy, what a building it was. It was no giant fancy palace like Beacon, but it was fairly high tech from what he could tell. A pretty modern building greeted him, with clean white walls and tinted out glass.

The groups followed Taiyang inside, ooh'ing and ah'ing at everything the man pointed out, be it the cafeteria to some of the classrooms that they were being shown, which were all coordinated using a color and a number. Jaune had been pretty in awe of it all, if he were honest. It was hard to grasp the idea that this school was where his dreams would begin. Where everything would start to fall into place and the building blocks for the rest of his life would be set.

"And in here is Signal Academy's combat sparring hall. Since we here at Signal require you to build your own weapon, for your first couple of years you'll be using the practice weapons here to get a feel for them. Pick the ones that feel most natural and maybe you can use it in the designs of your weapon." Taiyang was quick to explain, getting a different blonde head of hair to nod excitedly as a loud thump echoed throughout the room. Jaune jumped at the sound. Had that been the girl slamming her fists together? Taiyang however, wasn't quite finished. "We even offer practice firearms in here, though they fire dummy rounds that hurt when they hit you, but they sure as hell don't even pierce the skin." Jaune had to sigh in relief at that. There was another of his mother's fears put to rest, even if she wasn't here to actually know it. He smiled softly to himself. Maybe this would be even better than he'd hoped it would be?

* * *

The tour lasted for roughly another hour, along with a long safety demonstration about what to do in the event of a Grimm attack. Apparently, all schools had to have them, even the ones that trained students to fight against Grimm, who knew? After the presentation and talk about safety, each student was given a Signal Academy Scroll for their use, containing the few things they'd need like their student identification and in Jaune's case, the address of his student apartment. Not having family on Patch meant that he was supposed to house himself. It wasn't like Beacon, there weren't as many dorms.

The walk to his new apartment was cold and lonely, but at least he didn't live too far away from school. He could thank his father for that. Good old Dijon Arc, a real family man even when he couldn't be home. His father had rented the apartment for him, getting one as close to the academy as possible just so he could minimize his chances of being late as much as possible.

Jaune sighed, slipping the key into the apartment door and twisting the handle, pausing in surprise at what he saw. He'd expected to be greeted by a dark, dingy room with a single bed and a broken light or something. Instead, he'd been gifted with the sight of a warmly lit room, admittedly one with only a single bed to his teenage mind's horror, along with pretty much everything he needed to actually live in his apartment. His dad hadn't told him it would be furnished! And there, on the bed itself, were a collection of letters and notes from his family of 7 sisters and his parents. Some were longer than others, his dad certainly had a lot to say, but they'd all taken the time to leave him some personal messages. He swallowed, willing back the well of tears that had started to form in his eyes.

He picked up the smallest of the notes, scribbled onto a sticky note that was attached to an actual piece of paper, from his youngest sister.

" _Hey big bro! Try to be cool at Signal and make lots of friends! Hope you come back and show me lots of the cool things you learned. -Meri"_

The next note he grabbed was from his eldest sister, who was a busy girl herself, but still managed to write him something it seemed.

" _Hello Jaune. I hope this reaches you properly. I'm so excited for you and happy that mom and dad let you start on the road to achieving your dreams. I know you'll do great. With love from, Aryl."_

He chuckled, placing both notes onto a shelf next to his bed. He'd read them again if he ever felt lonely. The next note was from all three of the triplets, seemed they'd banded together to write him something. That was just like them, they never did anything apart.

" _Heya little brother! It's your favorite three sisters (you know you love us!) leaving you a note to say that you can't screw this up! With the Arc family behind you, there's absolutely no way you can fail! Tanger says to follow the rules and not to cause trouble and Ginger says to get good grades and do well. Me? I say you should have fun and kick some ass! -Bris, Tanger and Ginger_

 _P.S this was all written by Bris_

 _P.P.S Seriously let loose and have fun, you need more friends!"_

Well that had been…. a trip? Interesting?It definitely wasn't very different from the triplets' usual band of mischief and it was just like them to let Bris do all the writing, mostly because it was hard to get her to not do what she wanted. She was a handful like that. Without the other two to balance her out, she'd have probably gotten in way more serious trouble by now. Bris was a troublemaker and Ginger just liked to go with the flow. Without Tanger's more disciplined nature to balance them out, they'd have been in some damn fine messes long ago. Try as he might, Jaune still couldn't keep himself from smirking. Of course, they'd say they were his favorite sisters when they caused him the most trouble to begin with. Next came the note from one of two twin sisters, younger than him.

" _Hello Jauney! Glad you and pops managed to convince mom to get you off to a combat school. Now you might actually be cool in the future! In a couple of years I'll be following you in there and then I'll show them just how much better and cooler I am. Make the Arc family look good until then! From Anna."_

Anna was the rebellious spirit of the family, though she still wanted to be a huntress like quite a few of her sisters. She openly disrespected their parents sometimes, though Jaune knew that she cared for them too, deep down. It was typical of her to think of herself first and want him to make her look better. There was the other twin's note to read now, though Jaune had to admit he wasn't looking forward to it quite as much. Nella had always been…. displeased with the family members that wanted to be huntsman and huntresses.

" _Hi Jaune, it's Nella. I'm sure you can tell that I'm still worried about you becoming a huntsman and wish you'd give it up and pursue something safer, but I'm still proud that your dreams are being taken seriously. You'll always have a place back home if things don't work out. We love you."_

Straight and to the point, but somehow, she managed to make it sound so much more caring than it would have from anybody else. Nella had that trait about her. She just cared about you, no matter who you were or what you'd done. It was honestly a surprise that she wanted to be a world-renowned chef and not a doctor or nurse. Next was the letter from mom and he wasn't quite sure what this would contain. Was she regretting sending him?

" _My son, I'm glad you made it to Patch safely and I hope you settle in well. I've sent over some more of your clothes including your pyjamas, I hope you'll think of me when you wear them. I'll miss you and of course I'll worry about you, I honestly wish you wouldn't pursue such a dangerous career. You're my only son, after all. But of course, I'll support you even if I don't like it. Just make sure you stay alive and healthy. Love, mom."_

It was nice to know he had her grudging support. Getting her to agree to sign him up for Signal was like pulling teeth, even with his dad helping. Lye Arc was a determined woman, he'd known that since he were a young boy attending Faunus rights protests with her and his older sisters. The lioness Faunus had been absolutely vehement on what she wanted, sticking to it no matter what. Even when the White Fang had started to change, she'd remained as only a peaceful protester. It was probably one of the charms that had made his dad fall for her. And speaking of his dad….

" _Hello son. A long time coming but we finally did it, eh? She might be a stubborn woman, but your mother isn't cruel. She just wants all of her children to outlive her and be alive and happy. But enough about her, we should be celebrating your arrival at Signal. I had a lot of things sent over to you, including everything you'll need. Textbooks, equipment, some funds of your own. I'm sorry I couldn't be around enough to actively train you before you got to Signal, but you're there to learn and I believe with all of my heart they'll do it better than I ever could. Remember what I always tell you kiddo, all it takes is confidence. It works in more situations than just with the ladies too. Just be confident and everything will go your way, I promise. Give your mom a call every once in a while. She'll miss you. From Dad."_

And that was the man that Jaune looked up to and aspired to be like. His father was everything he wanted to be as an adult. Strong, kind, loyal and always working to save people and be a hero. The man had basically inspired Jaune and guided his whole life to this one moment. Even whilst he'd been away on mission after mission, the man found time to return home from time to time and had even set Jaune on a basic fitness routine. He had no real training as a fighter, but at least he wasn't lagging behind as much physically now!

His stomach certainly wasn't, as it growled to remind him that he was in fact hungry and that Signal cafeteria was going to open for Dinner soon. The blond pulled his hoodie on, gathered his scroll and apartment key and left the apartment, jogging the ten-minute walk to Signal in roughly 4 minutes. He wanted to get a good seat in the cafeteria, after all.

Entry didn't take long at all and Jaune didn't really mind the food, but it was nothing special. Nella cooked better food and he was pretty used to that, so this seemed a little subpar to him. And well, the company left a whole lot to be desired, especially since he'd already made himself look like an ass earlier by bumping into the guy sat next to him with an arm wrapped over his shoulder. To anybody else, the probably looked like friends. But god, they definitely were not friends!

"You're the idiot who bumped into me earlier. Going to apologize for scuffing my jacket?" The guy basically towered over Jaune, even though they sat next to each other, with deep black hair and coal black eyes. He wasn't wearing anything special, just a long black trench coat that didn't even have a single mark on it.

"Your coat doesn't have any scuffs on it. I-I didn't…" The single stutter was all it took, a moment of weakness that made Jaune a target.

"Yes you did. I think you should apologize."

"But I'm not at fault here!"

"Yeah well if you don't apologize soon I'm gonna start getting real angry at you!"

"Boys!" Both of them were snapped out of their respective trances, Jaune out of his cowering and the wannabe bully out of his anger, looking at the Blonde girl that had sat opposite Jaune and was looking at them with an unreadable expression. Was… was that excitement? "Both of you should calm down before I get angry. And you wouldn't like that. Now leave blond and scraggly alone." Now, normally Jaune would have jumped in indignation at such a remark, but when a good-looking girl comes to your defence you suck it up and say thank you. Or something.

"Uh, t-thank you. I'm Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue and the ladies love it." He watched warily as the bully started to walk away, noting that he didn't even know the guy's name. He could at least get the name of his fellow blonde-haired heroine, since she wasn't leaving it seemed.

"Huh the ladies love it do they?" She didn't seem too sure about that, glancing him up and down before scoffing. He sucked a breath in. What was wrong with him? He wasn't ugly or fat, was he? "I'm Yang Xiao Long, everybody loves it!" Now it was his turn to be dubious. Did everybody love it? Was that kind of what he sounded like? Wait a minute…

"Xiao Long? Like uh, Taiyang from earlier? Are you two related?" He asked, because far be it from him to just assume relation like that.

"Yeah, he's my dad. We live here on Patch and he taught me everything I know already."

"So, you've been trained already?"

"Yeah, haven't you?"

Crap. That wasn't good. Jaune took a minute to soft reboot his brain, blinking before letting what he hoped was a confident chuckle out. In reality, it sounded more like a nervous giggle.

"Of course I have. Psh, who hasn't had training before now?" His nervous laughter continued, earning an unamused look from his new companion. Well, that was fun. He wasn't even making a good impression with somebody that had helped him! He groaned, holding his head in his hands as Yang got up to walk away, finished with her food.

"See you in class, lady killer! Maybe we can spar at some point!" God, he hoped not. He'd heard her slam her fists together earlier. He did not want that. He sighed, standing and making for the exit. He just wanted to go home and sleep now.

* * *

Jaune jolted awake the next morning as his alarm clock finished ringing, glancing over at it to confirm his most horrible suspicion. He was late! By 7 minutes! Crap! It took another 2 minutes to get dressed and gather his belongings, before hurrying out of the door. He wouldn't even have time for breakfast! He just had to hurry, sprinting towards the academy and hurriedly navigating the halls to look for his classroom.

Eventually he found it, the classroom he was looking for. Homeroom with Mr. Branwen in classroom Grey 02. He panted at the door, knocking three times as loudly as he dared before the door swung open, revealing the sight of a somewhat tall man with silver-ish black hair and slight stubble. This was Mr. Branwen?

"You're late kid. Not a good look for your first homeroom, now is it?" The man drawled. He talked slowly, with a low voice that made Jaune believe that he was more used to whispering than he was yelling. Even when he was quiet, the man seemed to demand your attention just with the way his words sounded. Every single word that had left the man's mouth had sounded important just now. "Don't let it happen again, or you'll actually be in trouble. Huntsman can't afford to be showing up late on the job or somebody'll end up hurt. Go sit down kid."

Verbal tongue lashing over, Jaune trudged to a seat in the back of the classroom, idly noting that he'd walked past both Yang and his would-be attacker from yesterday. Maybe the latter had cooled down and hopefully the former would want to talk to him? A friend would sure as hell be nice.

"Right, where was I before the kid walked in?" Qrow had returned to standing at the front of the classroom, gazing over the students, his eyes stopping on Yang for a second. Or maybe he'd just imagined it? It was hard to tell. "Right, right. I'm your homeroom teacher, Qrow Branwen. Call me whatever you want, but when I'm talkin' you're listenin'. You've got me for homeroom and for combat training, both theory and practical. I'm in charge of whipping you into shape."

Jaune was pretty impressed, honestly. Despite the man giving him a warning earlier, which was probably definitely his fault come to think of it, Mr. Branwen seemed like an easy enough guy to get along with. Perfect for a homeroom teacher, though he wasn't too sure how that'd translate to being a combat instructor. The guy just seemed way too lazy and apathetic to teach any sort of combat, let alone the type that saw him helping dozens of teenagers find their unique styles and begin to develop them into something useful. Though maybe all of the laziness gave him the patience he'd need to actually get through it?

"Right. Today is going to be pretty short since it's your first day and it'll be shorter for some than for others." What on earth did the man mean by that? "Now, does anybody not have an activated aura?" What on earth did the man mean by THAT? Jaune's hand flew up, only to find that, to his horror, his was the only hand up. Through flaming cheeks and grit teeth, he clenched his eyes shut and let his hand stay raised. He'd really done it now.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality…" Suddenly, a hand gripped his outstretched forearm and Jaune glanced up to stare into the glaring eyes of Qrow Branwen as a heat began to diffuse through his body. It seemed to start from Qrow's hand, travelling to his chestm where it began to burn brighter and brighter. "Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee." Suddenly, Jaune's whole body was engulfed in a white glow, Qrow stepping backwards with a smirk on his face.

"What the heck was that?" Jaune panted, watching his hands as the white glow seemed to fade away, almost sinking inside of his skin and vanishing from sight. "That was…. Intense. It burned, but didn't hurt. It was warm." Just what the hell had that been and how did Qrow manage to cause it? Was it a Huntsman thing?

"That kid, was Aura. The soul manifested, it protects us and stuff. Kinda like a forcefield, made from our souls. You have way too much of it too. Don't panic, that's a good thing." Qrow explained it, maybe poorly, but it made sense to Jaune. It was some sort of soul energy that protected him from danger? Why didn't everybody have their aura unlocked? Wouldn't that save so many lives? Or maybe there was a reason behind that too? "Anyway, for now we'll move on to something else. For today, we'll be focusing on homeroom stuff and getting to know each other, everybody." Why did Jaune feel like this wouldn't go well?

"Right, now everybody write down one fact about yourself and pass it to whoever is next to you." And he was right, he didn't like this already. Hopefully once everything got settled, the actual huntsman stuff would begin? The stuff he was actually there to learn?

God he could only hope so.

* * *

 **So thanks for reading through the first chapter. I can only promise to try to improve as time goes on and hopefully this should be updated fairly regularly, aiming for at least one update per month. Constructive criticism is appreciated if it could be sent via PM, but please feel free to leave a review!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **\- Culaco & Friend**


	2. Chapter 2: Fight Club

**Right so, here's the second chapter of Signal Woes, far earlier than my normal upload schedule would allow, because we had it mostly written up already. Thank you so much to everybody that favorited, reviewed and followed this story and I can only hope that chapter 2 lives up to what some of you were expecting. Also, quite a few reviews asked whether or not this fic will be a dragonslayer fic. As much as I'd love to answer that right now, myself and my friend have both decided it is best to keep that to ourselves for now. We're sorry if that upsets some of you, but remember, that isn't a no~**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Fight Club**

"To summarize what I've been trying to teach you all for the past hour or so, observation plays a large part when fighting an enemy, whether they're a person or Grimm. It doesn't matter. Constantly keep watching and looking for anything to exploit-" Whatever Qrow was about to say was cut off by the bell, causing Jaune's homeroom and combat teacher to sigh, resting his head in the palm of his right hand.

It was the start of Jaune's second week at Signal and honestly, week one had not gone over all that well. It had honestly been pretty boring, consisting of mainly ordinary subjects like history, math and geography to name a few, along with a few lessons on combat theory that were insightful, if sometimes difficult to pay attention to. The drawling voice of Qrow Branwen could only hold attention for so long before it began to slip and Jaune was many thing, none of which consisted of being a saint or having the patience of one.

"Well, looks like that's all for right now. You guys get a 15-minute break, then meet me at the grey combat hall, alright? Now scram kids." Immediately, students scrambled from their seats, making their way for the exit of the classroom with Jaune following just a little behind, lost slightly in thought.

The first week had been a disaster socially too. Efforts to make friends hadn't gone super well, though he supposed it didn't help that there were only a few students he shared all of his classes with. And it wasn't like he hadn't tried, either! Because he'd definitely tried, but some of his classmates were straight up just impossible to get along with. Others were nice enough and he could just about manage to carry a decent conversation with them, but he couldn't definitively call any of them friends. It was actually kind of sad.

Not that he'd expected to be the cool kid, there was little chance of that happening after all, but he wasn't that boring, was he? He'd heard many of his classmates sharing stories of their days training with their parents and bragging about how awesome they'd be when sparring started. It looked like they'd be able to strut their stuff a little earlier than most had thought.

Looking around, Jaune noticed that his legs had subconsciously taken him to door to the correct combat hall, with nobody else there yet. They'd probably all headed for the cafeteria to grab snacks or drinks, most likely.

He idly wondered if he should follow their example, before sighing and shaking his head, despite the fact that he was alone right now. He wasn't sure when he'd taken up the hobby of communicating with himself, but no doubt it didn't add any positive traits to his character in the eyes of the rest of the class. Again, it wasn't his fault though! Ever since that first day, he'd been seen as lazy and tardy! One late morning and it'd painted him in a negative light!

With slow, deliberate movements he whipped his Scroll out, sending a quick message to his father about the upcoming sparring session. Hopefully his old man would have some words of wisdom to impart before one of the more dangerous classes.

* * *

He didn't. Jaune had waited until even Qrow had arrived and still, his father hadn't responded. He tried not to be upset, it was obvious his dad was just on a mission or something, but it was still kind of unnerving to not receive any advice when he felt like he needed it the most. He'd never even been in a fight before and now he was about to be sparring with somebody using actual weapons? This was totally crazy. Hopefully that aura thing that Qrow had unlocked for him would come in clutch.

"Right kids, take a seat in the observatory." Qrow was walking towards the combat stage as he said that, students quick to follow his command, with Jaune being no exception. Maybe they wouldn't have time to go through every student and he'd get this class to analyse everybody else's fighting styles? Maybe copy some of their moves?

It worked on tv and in the movies, so hopefully learning through observation would also work for him! He'd become an awesome badass simply by watching his fellow classmates and blending all of their styles into one mega fighting style!

Oh, who was he kidding? Of course that sort of thing wouldn't work! This was real life, not a video game or a cartoon! There was absolutely nobody that could copy a person's fighting style by watchin them! Nobody at all!

"Okay kids, nice to see you're all excited about this class, some more than others." Why did Jaune feel like Qrow had targeted that one? "So welcome to your first sparring class, kiddos. Things'll be a little different to the theory classes, obviously. Rule number one, my word is law in this room. If I say to end a fight, the fight is over."

Jaune fought the urge to sigh at that one. At least somebody was going to be looking out for their wellbeing. He had confidence in most of his classmates to stop spars before somebody got hurt, but as with every rule there were exceptions. Some looked like they'd like to hurt people and others looked like they'd be having too much fun.

Take Yang Xiao Long for example, the blonde that had spoken to him in the cafeteria. She looked like the type of person that enjoyed a bit of rough play, teacher's daughter or not. Hell, the fact that she was the daughter of a teacher probably meant that she was better trained than anybody here. And hey, Mr. Branwen was still talking.

"Rule number two, fights end when somebody's aura breaks or enters the red. No exceptions. Those are your only two rules in the ring." Wait, that was it? No rules against aiming below the waist, or anything like that? That was odd, he was sure there'd be a conduct for fighting in a class like this. "So with that said, I'm going to call down the first two of you to fight now. When you're called down, you enter via the two side doors…"

Now that Qrow mentioned it, Jaune took notice of the two doors leading to either side of the combat stage, one of which probably being how Qrow got up there. What were those two side rooms?

"Through those doors is what you might call an armory. As you're all aware, we make you create your own weapons, it's a requirement to graduate. Until then, you use some of the stock we have here. Or don't. If you want to try to go at it with your fists, be my guest." Jaune scoffed as Qrow mentioned that last part. Who would be crazy enough to just go straight up without a weapon?

"Alright, with that said, would Yang Xiao Long and Vester Raye get down here. You're both first up." Yang and a fairly short boy with orange hair with yellow tips that spiked upwards in a manner that simply defied gravity, appearing to add another few inches to his height, got up, making their way to opposite rooms. A minute or two passed before they both emerged, Jaune's attaention immediately being drawn to Yang.

" _Looks like I got my answer. Yang is definitely crazy enough to go into a fight barehanded."_ Not to mention that she looked pretty good when she was ready to fight. Like her dad, she wore a lot of brown and orange, but that was about where the similarities ended. She wore two leather bracers around her forearms and a set of fingerless gloves. She looked readier for a bar brawl than a spar in Jaune's opinion, which made it actually a rather intimidating, if impressive, sight to behold.

Jaune turned his eyes to her opponent, finding himself a little less impressed. Vester was on the smaller, more lithe side of the spectrum and his combat gear wasn't all that impressive. You couldn't really be too scared of red shorts and a striped yellow and black vest, after all. The golden leather bracers were a little cool, but all in all, it looked like the guy was more prepared for a pool party than a spar.

A pair of beeps drew Jaune's attention upwards for a moment, where a monitor with pictures of both Yang and Vester, along with a pair of green bars, one for each of them. That was so cool! It was like a fighting video game! Oh man, this was going to be awesome!

"Alright you two, you know the rules. No going overboard, got it?" Was it just in Jaune's head, or was Qrow looking straight at Yang when he said that? "Alright, begin whenever you want. I don't care." Classic Qrow Branwen.

In an almost immediate flurry of movement, both Vester and Yang launched forward at one another, Vester crouched low to the floor clutching some sort of one-handed scythe in his left hand. The guy was fast, that was for sure. He was running faster than Yang was, especially since she'd stopped moving. Wait, what?

Sure enough, Yang had stopped running towards Vester and was awaiting his approach, grinning at him in a way that made Jaune glad he wasn't the idiot sprinting towards a girl like that. The guy was definitely making a mistake, especially if an amateur like Jaune could tell he'd screwed up.

And screw up Vester did. Attempting to remain out of arm's reach of Yang, he slashed across her left arm with the Gama in his hand, shifting to the right as he did so, before a hand became tangled in his hair and he was thrown bodily across the combat stage, skidding across the ground and landing on his knees. Jaune noticed that the impact hadn't done a whole lot of damage, a mere sliver of the boy's bar was gone, but now as he scrambled to get to his feet, Yang was closing in fast.

Without time to successfully get to his feet, Vester threw himself to the left, narrowly avoiding a fist that had been on a collision course with his face, which instead left a nice series of cracks on the floor. There had been a lot of strength behind that punch, but now Vester found himself on the floor again with Yang closer than she had been, chasing after him to follow up with the previous punch. He yelped, pushing himself to his knees and slashing across Yang's chest with the handheld scythe, which was easily dodged with a twist of her waist, before an open palm slammed into Vester's forehead.

Jaune winced, sparing a glance up at Vester's aura bar to see it firmly into the yellow after just one blow. Was that normal? It couldn't be, right? He tore his eyes from the screen to see Vester backpedalling away, a look of terror on his face. Jaune's heart went out to the guy, but man was it impressive watching Yang stalk towards him whilst cracking her knuckles. She was like the badass main character out of an action film!

Yang lurched to the right, causing a panicked Vester to try to dodge in the opposite direction, before shifting back and following his movement. It had been a feint, Jaune realized, as a fist lodged in Vester's cheek and he was sent stumbling backwards whilst lashing out wildly with his weapon. He was panicking and it was clear to see, at least it had been until Yang ducked below a swing, pushing herself upwards and nailing the boy with an uppercut that lifted him off of his feet, landing flat on his back as his aura shimmered, the bar next to his name on the screen above them a deep crimson. It was over.

"Oh yeah! Just call me the combine harVESTER, eh?" Jaune did find, however, that he wasn't quite so impressed with Yang's victory phrase. A pun? Really? He groaned in his seat, as did the majority of the class, before he began to clap his hands together. He'd been pretty impressed. Vester wasn't a bad fighter, per se, but he'd just been up against somebody far better than he was.

"Alright, not a bad first fight." Qrow drawled as he made his way back to the two combatants, pulling Vester off of the floor with a single arm. "Yang, you did well. You're skilled, props to your dad for beating you into shape, but you need to be more mobile and wait for more openings. Once we start letting you all use guns, I assure you that standing still will be a mistake."

Yang, to her credit, seemed to take the critique in stride, a wide grin stretching across her face as Qrow turned to face Vester.

"Now, I think you know what I'm going to say. You panicked, thinking only of retreating when Yang got close. Your default response is to move in the opposite direction to a threat." Vester hung his head, whether in shame, disappointment or anger, Jaune wasn't really sure. He wasn't in any position to judge though, no doubt he wouldn't have done as well as the guy. "You've got potential kid, I'd wager that you could be a pretty impressive marksman, but you need to grow your nerve."

The two nodded, uttering thanks to Qrow before making their way to the side rooms to change back into the academy uniforms and exit, taking a few minutes before the stage was mostly clear.

"Alright now, Jaune Arc and Umber Scarrlow, up on stage now!" Jaune found himself gulping as he made his way from the observatory to his little armory, pushing through the door with shaky hands. Inside was a wall, white from ceiling to floor, covered in multiple weapon racks, though some were empty. Those were probably the racks for the firearms, they'd be given access to those later on in the year.

All around him were weapons of various kinds. There were shortswords, greatswords, axes and gauntlets of all different shape. There were even weapons he didn't know existed and some things he didn't really think of as weapons, like canes. Who wielded a cane?

He slipped into his combat gear, not nearly as impressive as the gear everybody else wore, being a simple breastplate, a pair of jeans and a black hoodie, along with some thick leather gloves. Maybe one day he'd be able to afford some actual armor, or something that looked cool. He spent most of his time browsing through the different weapons, picking up multiple weapons and shields to test their weight, before he found himself drawn to a war scythe in the corner of the room. That was what he'd use.

* * *

He stepped out onto the stage, war scythe clutched loosely in his left hand with the bottom of the handle pressed against the floor as he waited for his opponent to leave his side room. Honestly, standing like this with a scythe in his hand made him feel like death itself, he even had his hood up for added effect. Maybe he was quite the intimidating opponent now? Hopefully.

It took another few minutes for his opponent to enter the stage. Umber was quite the intimidating guy himself, just his eyes were kind of spooky and the pair of Wolf ears adorning his head didn't much help things. Jaune was used to Faunus, but Umber just looked and felt so wild and uncontrollable that it was kind of terror inducing. Sure, he wasn't too tall, but his sun-kissed skin and dark brown hair along with the fur coat and armored greaves made him look like he was already a pretty capable guy.

"Alright you two, start any time now." Qrow's voice rang out, yet Jaune wasn't in much of a rush to start moving just yet. Neither was Umber by the looks of things, who just stood there and observed Jaune calmly. Intensely.

" _God, I feel like a cornered rabbit or something. Get it together Jaune, you can do this!"_ He'd have been lying if Jaune didn't say he was less than confident in his own abilities, but he had to try, didn't he? He shifted, catching his scythe in his right hand so he was clutching the handle in both hands, the shaft crossed over his chest. _"Alright Jaune, think! Watch him! He's not got a weapon with him, but he looks confident. I don't see any weaknesses. I've just got to catch him with this. I've got the reach advantage and it can't be very difficult, right? It's a scythe, I just swing it and hit things!"_

He took a step forward, intent on testing how Umber would react, only for the boy to settle into a low crouch and sprint at him. In shock, all Jaune could do was step backwards and shift into a more defensive stance, glaring forward at his opponent.

Umber shifted even lower as he reached Jaune, placing a hand on the floor and sweeping out with his right leg to take Jaune's feet from under him, forcing Jaune to hop backwards to avoid it. Undeterred, Umber pushed forward with his hand, lifting himself off of the floor and swinging his other leg up at Jaune's face, Jaune ducking backwards to dodge, before Umber swung the leg down and slammed his heel into Jaune's chest.

With a grunt, Jaune pushed forwards and clumsily swung his scythe at his opponent, who twisted to avoid the slow swing and lashed out with another kick mid-twist, nailing Jaune in the gut and throwing him across the stage, landing with a loud thump.

With a cough, Jaune clambered to his feet, watching his opponent sway in a non-existent breeze, glaring in both annoyance and confusion. And pain. Lots of pain.

" _I stand corrected. This thing is difficult as hell to swing and I have no clue how much that damaged my aura."_ He coughed, holding the scythe with the head out to his side, ready to swing it horizontally. _"He kicks a lot and they really hurt, but why is he swaying? He sways more and more each time."_

This time, Jaune was the one to push forward, charging at Umber and swinging the scythe horizontally, almost like a farmer cutting through wheat. Of course, Jaune was no farmer and Umber was not wheat, sliding under the swing and grabbing the long handle of the scythe, using it to swing himself upwards and slam his knee into Jaune's chin. Jaune stumbled backwards, or at least he tried to, but Umber didn't give him the chance. Keeping a hold of Jaune's scythe, the boy span, slamming his heel into the side of Jaune's head before reversing his spin and slamming his knee into Jaune's shoulder, causing him to let go of the scythe with that hand. From there, it was easy to wrestle the weapon from the still disoriented Arc's grip and toss it across the stage, away from its wielder, who was summarily sent backwards with a straight kick to the sternum.

Jaune's back flared with even more pain as it slammed into the back of the stage, pressed against the wall. Damn, now he really was a cornered rabbit and he'd even been de-clawed. What was he supposed to do without a weapon? How much Aura did he have? He span, eyes wide as he narrowly avoided the wolf Faunus' foot, which slammed into the wall next to him, causing slight cracks to appear. Thinking he was out of the way for a moment, Jaune was almost able to think about moving before Umber pushed off of the wall with his foot, spinning and slamming his free foot into the side of Jaune's ribs, knocking him to the right and sending him stumbling, though he managed to stay on his feet.

" _Damn it! How am I going to win this? I can't go for that scythe, it was just dead weight anyway!"_ He really did feel like he was out of options. He'd picked the wrong weapon, just because a scythe looked cool and he felt awesome holding it. A sword or a dagger would have been better! How was he going to win without a weapon? Who could beat this guy without…. a…. weapon….

Yang!

That was it! He just had to mimic how she'd fought against Vester! It would be easy, he'd been watching that fight carefully after all! Plus, he could improve upon her performance by implementing Qrow's advice! It was perfect!

He rose his fists into an amateur boxer's stance, bouncing in place as he waited for Umber to approach him. This was it! It was time for Jaune Arc's comeback! He let his opponent get close, wanting to be ready for the exchange this time. He wouldn't have time to observe and react if he was also charging forwards.

" _Okay Jaune, you know he likes to build up momentum for each strike and throw his whole weight into every attack if he can. Which direction will give him the most momentum?"_ He watched as closely as he could, fully aware that he had to commit to a plan soon or it'd be too late. The guy was closing in, swaying even as he ran. At this rate, he'd be at the peak of a sway when he was about to attack. _"The right. It's coming from the right!"_

This would be it, all or nothing. Jaune watched, teeth grit and eyes steeled with determination as he took a step forward as Umber reached him, the wolf Faunus falling down backwards and springing off of his outstretched hand, aiming a kick high towards Jaune's face in a move reminiscent of their first exchange, with Jaune repeating his previous act of ducking the kick, only this time he ducked forwards. From there, it was different. He rose, swinging his right fist upwards as he attempted to stand beneath his opponent, slamming his fist into the boy's lower back with a powerful uppercut and pushing, forcing the boy off of the ground and upwards.

From there…. Jaune hadn't really had time to come up with a stage two to his master plan, so all he could really do was wing it. There wasn't much time before Umber hit the floor again, so he had to hit him again. With a wordless yell, he swung his left fist in a wide arc, slamming it into Umber's side just beneath his ribs. Then a hand clamped onto Jaune's wrist and before he could even react, Umber was twisting mid-air and the heel of a boot was getting closer and closer to Jaune's face. In a bid of desperation, Jaune ducked, swinging his arm down in an attempt to slam Umber into the ground, yet he managed to land on his feet.

All of a sudden, there was a pain in the side of Jaune's head and he was falling to the floor, attempting to brace himself with his arms, though his forehead still slammed into the stage as his arms gave out. He was so tired all of a sudden. What happened?

"Jaune's Aura is in the red, so Umber is the winner." Was that Qrow? What did he mean? Had Jaune lost? He turned, seeing Umber with his fist still outstretched, feeling a cold twisting feeling settle in his stomach. He'd been punched. After fighting the entire battle using only his feet, Umber had ended it with a punch. Of all things, a simple blow to the temple had been what finished him?

"Umber, you fought well and were clearly in charge of most of the battle. You did let yourself get confident though. You let yourself rush in when Jaune didn't appear to be able to win, which let him hit you when you should've been able to avoid it." Boy, Qrow was pretty good at analyzing the fights and Jaune was pretty nervous to hear the commentary about his own performance. He knew it hadn't been the best, but he'd tried! That had to count, right!

"Now Jaune, I want you to be honest with me here kid." He was starting off with a question? Well, it wasn't like he could choose not to answer it. "Why'd you choose a scythe when you can't wield one?"

"I thought it looked cool and I felt better holding it. I didn't think it'd be that hard to use and all I'd have to do is swing it." And boy, did he feel ashamed actually admitting his thought process out loud. It sounded way better when it was in his head.

"Right, I thought that was the case. Look kid, you didn't do all that great. You picked a weapon you couldn't use and didn't seem to know how to swing it the right way, but you have one sharp mind there." That was a compliment! An honest to god compliment! Jaune couldn't help but grin. "If all it took was brains to be a huntsman, you'd be pretty good already. We could all watch your mind work and you even managed to, albeit sloppily, adapt what you saw a classmate do and use it against your own opponent."

It felt good being complimented on what he'd managed to do well, even if he was only being complimented on his mental achievements. "But you need to find a weapon and learn how to use it, or learn how to fight properly without one. Just observing your opponent won't win fights for you."

"Sure, thanks Mr. Branwen." Jaune's reply was given accompanied with a goofy smile, before shifting into a confused frown as Umber filled his vision for a moment, a hand outstretched to shake. Pressing his hand into Umber's, Jaune found himself briefly shaking hands with the quiet guy before being handed his temporary scythe back. Now he didn't quite feel as cool holding it as he had before the fight had started.

* * *

It didn't take long to put the scythe back and get back into his uniform, closing the door to the side room behind him gently and looking over the observatory. There was a hand, waving over at him, attached to a female body with a full head of blonde hair. Yang? He shrugged, moving over to sit next to her.

"Nice moves out there, copycat." She grinned, slapping a fist against his left shoulder, unusually friendly for somebody that had just had one of their moves copied. Was this how people were? Was copying moves okay? Did the games and films get it all wrong? "Well, I guess they were nice for your standard. Seriously, a scythe? My little sister could have done better than you with that."

"You have a little sister?" Yes, that was the part of the conversation that Jaune had chosen to lock onto right now. It came from having 7 sisters of his own, some older and some younger. Sister stuff just clicked with him, especially after some of the stuff his own family had put him through. His hair was not supposed to be braided damn it!

"Yeah, she's gonna go here too in a couple of years. She could already take on some of the students here, I reckon." Gee, did Yang have some sort of super soldier sister or something? What did they put in the cereal here in Patch if their kids were growing up this strong? "You got any siblings?"

"Seven sisters, actually. Four are older than me."

"Seven!?" She exclaimed at the top of her voice, glaring around as a few heads turned to glare at her. They'd missed Qrow starting up a new match, but it wasn't too interesting anyway. Two people that had selected swords were basically having some sort of honorable duel or something. "Damn, how busy have your parents been? Sounds like a real action-packed house."

"Oh yeah, it's a real thrill sometimes." The sarcasm was downright impossible to miss and Yang swat him on the arm for it, ignoring his chuckling. "But really, I do love 'em a lot. They taught me a whole lot and they're family, y'know?" He grinned, which she returned with a much wider grin of her own. Maybe all he had to do to make friends was copy people? Wasn't imitation the greatest form of flattery?

"Well, they sure as hell didn't teach you how to fight. Who did?" Okay, never mind. Hadn't she been impressed with him a few minutes ago?

"Nobody did. Dad didn't have enough time between work and mom didn't want me to be a huntsman. Didn't want any of the family in this business." Yep, good old mom. Looking out for her family in any way she could, even if it meant almost crushing their dreams. She just wanted her kids to be alive, even if they weren't quite as happy.

"One of the protective ones, huh? I can dig that, I guess. At least it proves she cares." If he'd have been looking properly, Jaune would have seen a particularly reflective look on Yang's face, but instead he was taking some time to watch the fight below. Still two sword users, fencing it out. Yawn. "But yeah, I guess it's kind of impressive for somebody with no combat training to take out a guy like him. He looked like a pretty tricky guy, really put his foot down, you know?"

"Oh god, tell me that's not a thing you do." Jaune groaned, pressing his head into his palms with his elbows rested on his knees. That was just a god-awful thing and he was upset that he'd had to live through it. "Do you do that at home? Does your sister have to put up with that?"

"Hey screw you. I'll have you know that my sister totally loves my jokes!" Yep, she was totally lying and it absolutely showed on her face. Jaune broke out into a chuckle, before wincing at the palm that slapped against his shoulder multiple times. Damn! Even when she was joking around she could still make it hurt!

"Alright, now that exciting match is over, will Nix Schwarz and Sylvia Zoloto get up on stage now?" Qrow's voice stopped Jaune and Yang dead, watching as the guy who'd tried to get under Jaune's skin in the cafeteria climbed to his feet. He hadn't even changed out of his uniform, he'd just thrown his black trench coat on over it.

"Huh, so that guy's up now, huh?" Jaune hummed, watching Nix emerge from his side room with, um. "Yang? Does that guy have two shields?"

"I think so? That's, uh, that's pretty unique?" Yang was in as much disbelief. It'd be easier to understand once they'd made their own weapons, but whilst they were using rentals from Signal? Why two shields? "Think he doesn't like how unequal only one shield makes him look?" It was really the only excuse she could offer and honestly, Jaune was almost considering it as the truth.

"Oh, hey look! Sylvia is coming out now!" True to Jaune's words, Sylvia emerged from her side room, her platinum blonde hair tied in a neat ponytail behind her head. She was wearing a pair of tightly fitted jeans with an armored shirt and was wearing both bracers and shin guards. Clutched in her hands were a pair of daggers, short and curved slightly. "A pair of daggers, huh?" That likely meant she was fast, right?

"Alright you two, begin on you own time!" Qrow drawled, stepping away again. Even as he'd been speaking, Nix had held both shields in front of him and began to charge at Sylvia, who just smirked as she charged at him in turn. She backpedalled once she was in front of him, leaping upwards instead and stepping off of Nix's shields, landing behind him and lashing out across his unguarded back. Instead of stopping, Nix continued charging forwards, out of range of Sylvia. Her attack hadn't done much damage to his Aura, but it hadn't really been the point. She'd been testing how open he was.

"So, you're a bit reckless, huh?" Sylvia spoke, being one of the few people to have actually spoken mid combat. It was a bit of a shock, if Jaune was honest. She didn't look like the type to banter mid fight, but then again looks could be deceiving. "Not very bright if you ask me. You really supposed to be here?"

"Ugh, shut up!" Nix's response was more of an animalistic snarl, almost like he'd regressed back into some sort of primal instinctive rage, charging at Sylvia yet again. Again, she made to jump over him, slashing at his back, only this time he spun with her, connecting a shield with her face rather violently. Jaune had to wince at the drop of her Aura. More than 50% in one blow? She didn't have much of the stuff, did she?

Saying that, she barely flinched, ducking down under a second swing and stabbing upwards, causing him to lower his other shield to block the dagger. Sylvia smirked, sweeping a leg out to trip Nix, who jumped into the air to avoid ending up on his back, only to hastily slam his eyes closed as Sylvia slashed across his face with her free dagger. With his eyes tightly shut, he could do nothing as she slashed a second time across his chest, before his knee raised, slamming into Sylvia's midsection. This time, Sylvia stumbled backwards, before leaping away.

"You know, you're lucky we don't get guns yet. You'd be toast already." It was either a brag or a taunt, but it came from Sylvia either way as she circled around Nix. She already had experience with firearms then? That was pretty cool, Jaune supposed. "I mean, seriously. You're so slow and straightforward." She giggled, before immediately tossing one of her daggers at Nix's face. He scowled, reaching up with a shield to block it, only for a dagger to slam into his gut, held by Sylvia. His Aura dropped to the orange. "You see, dual wielding has its perks. You shouldn't have cove-"

She was cut off, her Aura shattering as Nix's other shield slammed into the back of her head. Looked like she'd expected to beat him with one blow to a weak spot. "You're right, dual wielding does have its perks. So does being tall, not that you'd know." Okay, that was a low blow. So Sylvia was on the short side, what did that matter? "And so does having at least an average amount of Aura. You can barely take any blows. Kinda pathetic, really."

"Enough kid, leave her be." Qrow's voice broke through the insults, drawing all eyes to the teacher. He did not look amused. "You might've won, Nix, but you didn't do all that well. Even Mr. Arc, who used a weapon he had no skill or experience with, managed to fight more impressively than yourself. You cannot rush at every problem head on."

"Why the hell not? I won, didn't I? That's all that matters!"

"Enough! Go take your seat." Qrow seemed to be done, ignoring the fuming bully as he stalked away angrily, slamming the door to the side room. "Don't worry about the loss, Sylvia. You fight too opportunistically though. You wait for openings or try to create them if there are none, but in doing so you create your own openings. You get tunnel vision. That'll get you killed. Now go on."

* * *

When all was said and done, Jaune and Yang were still sat together, watching the final spar of the day wrap up. They'd carried a few conversations and they'd been going pretty well, honestly, he felt like he actually had a friend now.

"So I kept having to get my own tent, because they wouldn't stop braiding my hair." He finished regaling Yang with the tales of his family trips to Shion, frowning at her giggle with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah yeah, the idea of me being in pigtails is hilarious. I bet I rocked them better than you could."

"Yeah, probably. But anyway, you wanna start sparring together? Work on your hand-to-hand? My sister is garbage at it and it's hard to get dad to spar now." He almost dove for cover. She wanted to spar with him? Did she want him to die or something? He thought they'd been getting along until just now! "Hey, don't look so scared! I can hold back, jerk! If you just Yang in there, you'll be fine." The pun did not fill him with much confidence. He sighed.

"Sure, when and where?" Her grin also did not do much to calm his nerves. Why did he agree to this? Was this the sort of sacrifice he was going to have to make for friendship?

"My house, after school. We'll walk together, there's a clearing outside of my home that's perfect for sparring." Well, it was official. He was really going to do this and if it didn't break his body completely, maybe he'd come off better for it?

Right?

* * *

 **So, thanks for reading chapter two of Signal Woes. As you've read by now, hopefully, this chapter dealt primarily with some combat to showcase exactly where our characters are at now, along with some much needed bonding between our two favorite blondes. It also goes to show that whilst this isn't quite the same Jaune we know from canon, he's also not too far off. He's better at applying that intelligent brain we all know he has to more than just barking out orders to his team. If he can think, he can analyze an opponent. If he can analyze an opponent, he can try to counter them. As you can also tell from this chapter, that also doesn't always go well.**

 **This chapter also served as a good medium to properly introduce some OC's that are going to play minor/slightly important roles in the fic, at least for a while. This is kind of a strange spot for me. Usually I'm the type of person that doesn't like it when an OC is important in a fanfiction, but with where and how we've set this fic we've decided that OC's were pretty much necessary. If you're like me and aren't too keen, do be aware that they will be popping up again, though so will the main characters you know and love, so don't worry.**

 **As with last chapter, feel free to review, favorite and all that good stuff if you're liking the fic. It really lets us know that you appreciate what we're writing and creating and is a huge help for motivating me to actually get writing!**

 **Thanks all!**

 **\- Culaco & Friend**


	3. Author's NoteCancellation

So this has probably been a long time coming, but I suppose I owe everybody an apology at some point. I figure now is the best time to do so. I'm sorry to everybody that was genuinely interested in Signal Woes, but I'm afraid that I'm abandoning the story, technically I already did just before christmas. You see, whilst working on chapter 3, my computer just completely bricked, crashed and wouldn't even switch back on. I'm not sure why, I don't know much about computers, but I lost all of my work, FF related and otherwise. That includes the basically completed chapter 3, the outline for chapters 4 -10 and the overall planning we'd done for the fic. After losing all of that, I just lost all passion and motivation for the story and couldn't even bring myself to re-draw up the plotline from scratch.

So in short, Signal Woes isn't coming back, at least not from me. If it inspired anybody to take their own shot at a similar story, or if anybody enjoyed it for the brief life it had, then it achieved its purpose. I'm not exactly sure when I'll be making another fic, but it could be soon if an idea takes hold.

Again, I'm **SO** sorry about this. Signal Woes was a passion project and the fact that I let it die is disgusting. I feel like I've let everybody down, but you all at least deserve to know.

Thank you to everybody who read the story and reviewed. I'll try to take some of the advice and criticisms I received forward onto future projects.

\- Culaco


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